Hi incredible people Loving all the inspiration this forum holds - truly beautiful! I've been on a weight loss journey for a while but never seem to progress on the scales.

I've always been quite active, always involved in sport - did representative athletics for 15 years so fitness was always a priority! Because of this i assume i have a fair bit of muscle. I'm only 22 so still have youth on my side

My problem is since about march i got pretty ill and thought it would pass but it didn't as time went on the doctors started to look into whatever my condition was and just found a few weeks ago that i have a heart condition (way to complex for me to explain). But firstly my resting pulse is super high at 111 bpm, when i do minimal activity (even small things like brush my hair) i faint - I've never experienced anything so debilitating before

Anyway in addition to this the doctor asked me to weigh in and height and all that and i'm 165cm and weigh 85kg (Clothing size 12) i've always known I'm overweight but i don't really feel it? Medically they want me to lose 20kg which i don't mind but i don't really know how - normally i'd just up my exercise but with my current condition i have no clue what to do!!

I don't eat the best but since june i've definitely upped my healthy eating and started on vitamins to assist... still (i know i havn't been exercising) but my weight never seems to move! I drop centimeters rather easily but the measurements don't help when the doctor weighs me? If you know what i mean?

Do i ignore what they are asking of me and keep my thoughts focused on the measurements over the scales? And if anyone has any suggestions for exercise (i try to push myself to do a 20 minute walk daily accompanied by someone for safety incase of fainting) i am alll eyes

Thanks in advance!x

"She's worth far more than money in the bank; Her value exceeds all the trappings of wealth; nothing you could imagine can compare with her. With one hand she gives long life, with the other she confers recognition. Her manner is beautiful, her life wonderfully complete." - Proverbs 3:15

I would always recommend that you follow your doctor's advice, especially with something as serious as a heart condition. It's worth having a talk with your doctor about this. BMI isn't advised as a health measurement for athletes, so perhaps a body fat measurement using calipers would be a better option. However, there may be another reason why your doctor is focused on weight instead of fat. It's worth talking to him or her to find out.

If you need to drop weight without adding exercise then it'll have to be through diet. If you're used to a great deal of exercise chances are you're used to eating a lot to fuel your body! A lot of ex-athletes gain weight when they stop exercising because they don't adjust their diets accordingly.

There are quite different healthy eating programs that will help you lose weight. It just depends on what suits you best. If you really like carbs you could try Low GI, which focuses on carbs that release blood sugar slowly and keep you feeling fuller for longer. If you like meat then a higher-protein lower-carb diet might suit you better. Many people find that counting their calories helps them drop the weight. You can sign up at calorieking.com.au for a free profile. It will tell you how many calories per day you need to eat to lose weight and can even set up a menu plan, or you can use the food diary to track your food and exercise to make sure you match your recommended calories each day.

Whatever eating program you choose, please run it by your doctor first. Many diets radically change the ratio of foods you eat or, in the worst cases, cut out some food groups altogether. Your health care professional should be able to tell you what eating plan is best for your medical condition.

I'm with Ali on this one, you're health is easily more important than your weight or how you look.

Personally I think that without more specifics you shouldn't be following any of our advice, find out as much info from your doctor as you can and see if you can get in touch with a nutrition expert to tailor a diet to help with your condition.

Be prepared with this kind of situation for it to get worse before it gets better, you might find that your weight/size actually increase first while some more underlying problem gets fixed, then come back down at a later date.

With regards to shifting the weight that you've been told to, I would say reducing your calories and getting a good balanced diet are paramount. Generally a change in 500 calories a day equates to a pound a week in weight change (whether increasing or decreasing) and while that's not the quickest method you'll find its probably the safest as the slow but steady route will give you more control.

Yea, definitely talk to your doctor about what he/she reccommends in terms of diet when excercise is so high risk. You can lose weight with just the eating side though, when I started this, before I kicked in the excercise I lost almost 6kg just by eating very very well, basically no slip ups at all.